


Most Wanted

by AuctoremSceleris



Category: Metroid Series
Genre: Gen, Going To Do It Myself, still waiting for the sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuctoremSceleris/pseuds/AuctoremSceleris
Summary: The Federation is hunting her, the corporations are furious, and the people are afraid. Things are just getting interesting for the greatest hunter in the galaxy.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Galaxy's Most Wanted

**Chapter One:** Galaxy's Most Wanted

**Galactic Federation Assembly Hall** **  
** **Federation Center, Daiban—Sector One**

News traveled fast in the galaxy, and it was Pito Argamon's job to slow it down. He served at the pleasure of Assemblant Ixi'ma Tal of Xristo: whatever she said had to be buried, he buried. There were a thousand ways to do it. He distracted the press with stories from the government, about the legislation to open recently explored star systems to corporate development—a win for the Expansionists—or about the upcoming visit of the Qerudo delegation to Daiban Minor.

Things rarely stayed buried forever, but if Pito was successful details would surface at such a slow pace that nobody could connect the dots of scandal. Nobody except the historians, but that wouldn't be for a long time. And time was the most valuable commodity in politics.

Pito wasn't Assemblant Tal's only aide, of course, but he was the one she trusted the most. That's how he found himself sitting in her office, alone except for the Assemblant herself and the collection of holograms on her desk. He was paying close attention, trying to decide how the subject of this unscheduled meeting could avoid the light of day.

Honestly, he was struggling.

"Samus Aran is a criminal." The hologram speaking belonged to a human, though his features were obscured. Pito only knew him as a representative from a research and development outfit, Biologic Space Laboratories. "We have conclusive proof that she's responsible for not only the destruction of our facility—a facility you ensured she could restore to our control—but of the entire planet SR388."

Assemblant Tal clicked her beak and folded her claws together on her desk. "If you have such conclusive proof, Representative, I ask that you share it with us. We have a Federation Navy battlegroup on its way to SR388 now to investigate your claims, and it would speed up the process if you provided us with this information."

"Share it?" Without facial features, it fell to vocal inflections and body language to tell if the representative was agitated. He appeared composed, but his voice was incredulous. "Our history of sharing things with the Federation may have come to an end, Assemblant. You claim Samus Aran is one of your top agents, but she destroyed priceless research. I find it hard to believe sharing anything with you is in our interests anymore."

One of the other holograms cleared his throat. Pito recognized Gravin Breel, the Assemblant for Tarbulli V, a Daibani. "If we didn't have your interests at heart, we never would have commissioned your services for the Metroid breeding program. And I believe we offered to fund your research into the X parasite as well."

"Nevertheless, you were the ones who sent Samus Aran. You bear responsibility for her actions, and we expect to be compensated for our losses."

Pito watched Assemblant Tal's crown feathers rise and found himself shrinking back. A predatory gleam appeared in her eyes. "If we want to discuss compensation, Representative, then there are other matters we need to address."

"Such as?"

"Such as how a research facility as benign as you suggest was capable of detonating with the force required to destroy a planet. And I believe you previously reported to the committee you were entertaining other projects you claimed weren't subject to Federation oversight? If we're to compensate you, we'll need a complete accounting of those as well."

The representative fell silent.

The third hologram, which had until this moment said nothing, gestured with a segmented forearm. She was Assemblant Umu-Shima Borgot Yalmi of the Fremen Expanse. "I believe also that the representative has forgotten that Samus Aran is a free agent, a bounty hunter." Her insectoid features meant Pito found her impossible to read, but her voice was preternaturally calm.

"She was operating on a Federation contract," the representative said.

Assemblant Tal leaned forward, her crest rising even higher. "A contract we engaged her on at your request, Representative. You said B.S.L.'s research facility had gone dark and you had reason to suspect foul play. No matter the outcome, the contract was engaged in good faith."

"And prior to our contract," said Assemblant Borgot Yalmi, "she was engaged by your company directly, was she not?"

"I believe," said Assemblant Breel, forestalling what seemed to be another outburst from the B.S.L. representative, "these matters are best discussed in person, yes? The committee has a formal meeting scheduled for two weeks from now, Representative, and I suggest we pursue this matter in greater detail then. Do you agree?"

The representative cut the connection, his hologram fizzling out.

"I suppose we'll take that as a maybe," muttered Assemblant Tal. She said her goodbyes to her colleagues and closed the connection. Her crest deflated, and she began preening her feathers—a gesture Pito had come to understand was relaxing for an Alari.

"So," she said after a moment. "What's your take on this?"

"This is big, boss," said Pito. He was still trying to unpack the implications in his mind. "Samus Aran is a household name in about twenty percent of the Federation. If we're talking about making her into a criminal… it won't go over well."

Assemblant Tal said nothing. Pito took that as a sign to continue. "This is the kind of news that will make it to the headlines and stay there. Whether or not Aran is a free agent, her success in dealing with the Space Pirates was broadcast as a Federation victory. Her actions will reflect on us, like it or not."

The assemblant stopped preening. "So we bury it."

This was the part Pito hated: telling his boss she was wrong. "We can try," he began diplomatically. "Odds are that Biologic won't want to publicize anything yet. Loss of their station will spook their investors, rattle their board, and they won't want to let anyone know until they know what they can salvage. So we can bank on their discretion, at least for now.

"But," he continued, "it won't be long until the story of a missing planet breaks, and then people will start connecting dots. It's better if we're in a position of authority when that happens."

Assemblant Tal stared in Pito's direction, but he knew she was looking past him, thinking. Finally, she said, "I'll make some calls. Discreet ones. We can put the military and the police force on alert without informing the media."

Pito opened his mouth to object, that it wouldn't be long before somebody leaked the alert to the press. But she was focused on him now, and he could see she already knew what he was going to say.

"There's no sense waiting," she said. "One way or another, everyone will soon know that Samus Aran is the galaxy's most wanted."

* * *

**Ex-Federation Gunship VXL-12958** **  
** **SR 387 Orbit—Galactic Frontier**

"Samus."

Her eyes snapped open. For a moment, Samus Aran was caught between two places. One was a pastoral colony world, home to a lone human settlement. She stood on a cliff and watched as it burned, the smoke blacking out the sky, as a winged shape flew overhead and cackled. The other was a claustrophobic space station haunted by monsters. She huddled in a small crawl space listening to the heavy, deliberate footsteps of a hunter—a twisted reflection of herself—as it searched for her.

She couldn't fight. She couldn't run. She couldn't breathe.

"Samus. Are you all right?"

The mechanical voice pulled her from those places in the past, anchored her in the present. She was aboard a ship— _ her _ ship, now. There were no monsters here.

Not anymore.

"Adam." Her voice croaked, and she took a moment to clear her throat. "Status update?"

"We're coming back around to the beacon. Rendezvous in thirty minutes. Your vitals were spiking erratically. How do you feel?"

"I'm all right," she said, but she didn't feel all right. The events of the past few days came rushing back to her. She had been hired by Biologic Space Labs to assist with collecting samples from the planet SR388, but she'd been infected by an unknown parasite called X. She'd only barely survived thanks to a serum created from the last known Metroid, a species she had once helped wipe out. The experience had left her… changed.

But she didn't have time to rest. She was quickly dispatched to the B.S.L. orbital research station around SR388 after the Federation lost contact with it. Once on board, she had discovered the X had spread throughout the station, creating twisted and dangerous versions of all the lifeforms aboard… including a copy of her. In her weakened state, she had been forced to try to avoid it as she tried to take the station back.

It hadn't worked out that way, though. She discovered a secret Metroid breeding program aboard the station, as well as the truth that the Federation didn't want the X to be exterminated—they wanted it under their control.

So she'd done the only thing she could think to do: destabilize the station's orbit and send it crashing into the surface of SR388, destroying both the X on the station and the planet of its origin in one fell swoop. No survivors.

Samus heard a scratching at the cockpit door, followed by a muffled cooing sound. Her mouth quirked into a brief, crooked smile. Well, there were  _ some _ survivors.

She keyed the door release from the cockpit chair, and a green-feathered bird trotted in. It had a long neck and a vertical crest on the top of its head. A small, blue-furred impish creature rode on its back. They both peered up at her, and she couldn't help smiling at them.

Dachoras and Etecoons. They had helped Samus in the past, before she found them trapped on board the B.S.L. station. She'd been happy to set them free. In fact, they'd saved her life—when the station was about to plummet into the atmosphere, they had flown her ship into the hangar to rescue her.

She reached out her left hand, still encased in her power suit, and rubbed the Dachora's slender head. It closed its eyes and cooed, leaning into the gesture.

Samus marveled at the sensation of feathers beneath her protected fingers. When the team of doctors and scientists who saved her life from the X infection made their initial attempt, they had partially disassembled her old power suit. It was a biomechanical creation of the Chozo, and they had no idea how it worked—only that she couldn't be completely removed from it while she was unconscious.

But after the Metroid serum had been applied, the suit changed itself. It became a fusion of the Chozo components and the Metroid DNA. At first, Samus struggled to adjust to the change. It was lighter, had a greater range of motion, and she had real tactile sensation through its fleshy external membrane. But it was less capable of protecting her from danger, it made her weak to cold environments like the Metroids themselves, and—she discovered later—it made her able to absorb the X parasite like fuel.

The change had ultimately worked to her benefit, but she was left wondering how much else of her was changed. She'd been born a human but received a transfusion of Chozo blood as a child. That had given her abilities far beyond any ordinary human. With Metroid DNA now in the mix…

"Adam," she said to the ship's computer. "Are we in EVA range of the beacon?"

There was a pause before he answered. "Yes. Though the safer option would be waiting until we move closer. We can use maneuvering thrusters to reach it undetected."

After destroying the B.S.L. station, while attempting to leave the system, Adam had detected a Galactic Federation cruiser on an inbound vector. Samus had reversed direction and hidden the gunship in the ring system of SR387, leaving a sensor beacon to passively collect data about the Federation presence. It would pick up on any of their comms chatter, which she could use to figure out what they wanted and what their disposition was.

Specifically, she needed to know if they were hunting for her.

"I can't wait any longer."

"Why not?"

She hesitated. "I'm… concerned. About what the Metroid serum might have done to me. I need to get moving."

"Samus, the Federation gave you a clean bill of health before sending you on this mission."

"You're right. They've been so forthcoming with the truth recently."

"Point taken. Nevertheless, it is prudent to wait."

"Let me ask you this, Adam. You're a Federation gunship. You might have supported my mutiny earlier, but you still have Federation directives, don't you? So what's to stop them from overriding you in order to get to me?"

Silence. Samus felt her chest start to get tight. Had he already betrayed her? Was he keeping them in the system deliberately?

"Adam?"

"You're right, Samus," he said after a long moment. "As soon as the Federation cruiser entered the system, they've regularly tried to ping my transponder. I've been rerouting subroutines to divert the activation signal, but…"

"But you can't do that forever."

"No."

She stood, picking up her helmet from the console. "Then we don't have a lot of time, do we?"


	2. Lethal Force

**Chapter Two:** Lethal Force

**Ex-Federation Gunship VXL-12958** **  
** **SR 387 Orbit—Galactic Frontier**

With the Etecoons and Dachoras safely sealed in the gunship's cockpit, Samus Aran descended the energy lift onto the boulder's surface. She'd landed the gunship on a massive chunk of rock in SR387's ring system, almost five miles in circumference. Adam had identified it as being largely composed of the base metals that made up his hull. As long as they didn't broadcast any signals, the ship should remain effectively invisible to the Federation cruiser's passive sensors.

But with the Federation attempting to remotely activate Adam's transponder and force him to reveal his location, it was only a matter of time before they were found. If Samus could recover the sensor beacon they had left to keep track of the Federation's movements, they might have a better chance of escaping the system and going… well, Samus hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

"One problem at a time," she muttered to herself.

She stepped out onto the boulder, looking around. The acid-yellow clouds of SR387's upper atmosphere loomed above her, and she could see the glittering surfaces of other debris in the ring system.

"I'm ready, Adam," she said over the short-wave comm. "Show me the beacon."

An indicator flashed on the inside of her visor.

_ "Samus," _ said Adam.  _ "Your Space Jump ability should be effective in reaching the beacon. But just in case you need it, I took the liberty of unlocking your Grapple Beam." _

Samus raised an eyebrow. "I thought only the Federation could give me upgrades." Over the past few days, the Federation had been sending data to her suit in order to unlock the abilities that her transformation had made dormant. Once they realized she wouldn't be party to their secret plans to weaponize the X and the Metroids, though, they had stopped sending it.

_ "Restoring your Grapple Beam had been a low priority, but previous data packets included partial fixes. While you were resting, I did my best to patch some of the gaps. It's not guaranteed to be stable, so I don't recommend relying on it." _

"Noted." She refocused on the indicator. Boulders of rock and ice floated nearby, and she made a series of mental calculations. "Commencing operation."

Samus crouched, then pushed off hard with her legs, folding her body into a somersault. As she did so, her suit responded to her mental commands. Seams along the back of her suit folded open to reveal micro-thrusters. They emitted small but powerful bursts of ions at carefully timed intervals, propelling her forward. Similar nozzles tucked into the soles of her boots aided with precise changes in her vector.

Meanwhile, the suit's sensors used a variety of collection methods to relay a stable, panoramic image to Samus's visor, allowing her to plan her course. As she approached a smaller boulder, she uncurled, twisted to land feet-first on it, and then pushed off in another direction, repeating the process as she made her way to the beacon.

She couldn't help smiling. This was her first time traveling through open space with her altered suit, and the experience was exhilarating. Her old power suit could have handled this as well, though it had far more thrusters arranged strategically throughout its bulky armor panels. This slimmed down, almost biological suit took a more deft hand, yet it felt more natural. It responded more quickly to her mind, acting more like a second skin than power armor she had to pilot.

She whooped as she bounced off a second boulder, then a third. She laughed as she changed course away from the most direct route to the beacon, eager to test her reflexes and this new suit's capabilities. The universe spun around her, but she was at peace—she was at its center.

A blast of noise filled her ears, momentarily overloading her comms system. Suddenly she was aware of how far she had drifted from her target.

_ "Samus." _ Adam's voice cut through the noise.  _ "The Federation just activated my transponder." _

"I know." She Space Jumped again, this time heading in a straight line for the beacon. A field of ice chunks was directly in her path. "Stand by."

As she approached the ice, she sent another command to her suit. Energy from its reserves was shunted to the suit's skin, augmenting her suit's defensive shields with a crackling envelope of destructive energy—the Screw Attack. It shattered the ice as she collided with it, and her suit made tiny adjustments to her trajectory to keep her on course.

Now for the tricky part, she thought. She unfolded herself as she approached the beacon, the energy envelope fading. She collided with the beacon, grabbing hold of it with her left hand and steadying herself as the beacon began to tumble. It was about half her size, with its control panel plainly visible and easily accessible. As she held onto the casing, she slotted her arm cannon into the data port.

It would have been easier with the Grapple Beam, she thought, but she didn't want to risk using an unstable system unless she had to.

"Get ready, Adam," she said. "I'm transmitting the data directly to you."

_ "Are you sure? That will give away your location." _

"I think it's a little late to be worrying about that."

Samus felt a prickling sensation on her back, moments before her visor flashed a warning. She turned and saw the distant silhouette of a Galactic Federation frigate as it dropped out of warp. Her visor helpfully outlined it and drew her attention to the pinprick drive lights of a squadron of  _ Stiletto _ -class fighters being deployed.

Great.

_ "Data received, Samus. Now get back here." _

She didn't need to be told twice. Shoving off the beacon, she engaged her Space Jump again and started maneuvering her way back.

This time, she felt a flash of heat long before her visor could alert her: a railcannon round slammed into the boulder she had just used as a course-correction, sending her flying. Her suit's shields absorbed the worst of it, but her teeth still rattled, and she was in an uncontrolled spin.

"Adam!"

_ "Don't worry, Samus. We're on our way." _

As she tried to make the adjustments necessary to stabilize herself, a new voice sounded in her helmet. It was broadcast on a general channel:  _ "Samus Aran, this is Commander Sora Takamari of the G.F.S.  _ Folkvangr. _ You are to surrender yourself immediately for questioning, or I am authorized to use lethal force." _

Samus thought about replying but decided against it. Her visor was tracking the three nearest fighters which had entered the ring system, and she saw them circling around on approach to her position. But her visor also tagged another craft: Adam's sleek purple fuselage as it sped towards her.

_ "This is going to be close," _ said Adam. The robotic monotone was at odds with the high-stress situation, but Samus found it comforting.

As Adam got closer, one of the fighters fired again, this time at the gunship. Adam's maneuvering thrusters neatly avoided the round, but he was off-course. He began to correct... 

_ "Samus…" _

She activated the Grapple Beam, squashing a warning as it appeared on her visor.

"I've got it."

Adam slowed just enough as the gunship passed by. Samus tracked the ventral hatch with her cannon and, once the ship was in range, fired. An unbroken beam of blue light lanced out, catching the hull as it passed.

If everything had been carefully controlled, Adam could have matched Samus's trajectory and velocity. As it happened, he was going faster than her and at a different angle. As soon as the beam caught, she was pulled violently towards the ship. Despite a sickening pop from her right shoulder and a blossom of white-hot pain, the suit held and automatically began to pull her closer to the ship.

Once she was close enough, the ship's auto-boarding sequence engaged, grabbing her in a tractor beam and pulling her inside. Just in time, too, as the Grapple Beam began to stutter and more alerts appeared in her vision.

_ "This is your final warning," _ said Commander Takamari over the comms.  _ "Surrender immediately, or we will destroy your vessel." _

"Get us out of here!" she said through gritted teeth as soon as she was on board. The deck momentarily thrummed at a different pitch as Adam entered warp, but Samus was focused on her arm. She gripped her shoulder as the suit massaged her dislocated joint back into place, then used some of its energy reserves to stimulate the healing process.

After a moment, warmth flooded her shoulder, and relief washed over the rest of her.

"Operation complete," she muttered to herself.

* * *

With the ship safely away from SR387, Samus pulled off her helmet. The door to the cockpit slid open, and the two Dachoras and three Etecoons piled out, chirping at her as they did so. She patted the older Dachora on the head as her young chick ran around her feet.

"Good flying, you guys," she said to the assembled creatures. This was the second time in twenty-four hours they had flown the gunship to rescue her. One of the Etecoons puffed out his chest in pride. While the Dachoras were something like Old Earth geese with green feathers and longer legs, the Etecoons were like blue monkeys, but with pointed ears and antennae. She'd encountered them before on the planet Zebes, shortly before it ended up being destroyed by the Space Pirates she had been sent to eliminate.

That had also been the mission where the hatchling—the last living Metroid, which had imprinted on Samus as its mother—had died.

"Are you all right, Samus?" Adam's voice filled the ship's living compartment.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll be okay." She crossed to the food locker and pulled out a ration bar. She unsealed it and broke it up into little pieces, then handed them out to the Dachoras and Etecoons. Her suit could sustain her with energy indefinitely, though eventually her body would demand actual food. But until she found a better home for the creatures she now found in her care, her food stores were officially earmarked for them.

"What did we learn from the sensor beacon?" she asked as she watched her saviors eat. The mother Dachora ate a piece at a time, primly, while the Etecoons grabbed handfuls of food and scarfed them down. The baby Dachora tried to emulate the Etecoons, but at a sharp trill and some light pecking from his mother, he copied her.

"It's about as bad as we expected," said Adam. "Intercepted communications from the cruiser indicate the Federation has labeled you a wanted woman. All military and police units have been placed on alert."

Damn. She figured as much—destroying a research facility and a planet in one fell swoop was a good way to become a fugitive—but she had quietly hoped the Federation would take her service history into account. She'd helped them out multiple times in her career as a bounty hunter, to say nothing of her time in the Galactic Federation Police.

"Hm. Interesting."

Samus perked up. Adam's tone caught her attention. "What is it?"

"That frigate, the  _ Folkvangr _ , was escorting the cruiser  _ Al-Jabarut _ . The sensor beacon recorded its movements when it entered the system. It went straight for the remains of SR388 but didn't engage in the normal search pattern for escape pods or survivors."

"That's not so surprising," said Samus. "Our reports from investigating the station said there had been no survivors." In fact, Samus had been hoping the Federation would assume she and Adam had been caught in the blast, but their little trick with the transponder had crushed that possibility.

"Correct. However, they still engaged in a search pattern of the debris until they successfully triggered my transponder. During that time, the  _ Al-Jabarut _ deployed at least one science vessel."

"Show me."

Samus crossed the living compartment and entered the cockpit. Adam displayed the retrieved data on the main screen. Behind it, the stars were distorted by the active C-drive, which was pushing the ship through space at faster-than-light speeds.

She sat in the pilot's chair, settled her helmet on the console, and looked closely at the data. Sure enough, the cruiser had deployed a smaller vessel with a civilian science transponder, one which Samus recognized almost immediately.

"That's the same B.S.L. ship I was assigned to escort to SR388." In fact, she was certain it was the very ship she had been traveling with when she succumbed to the X parasite, the same one that brought the X-infected samples of her previous power suit to the B.S.L. station.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Though I can't confirm it." That data had been lost when her previous gunship had crashed in the asteroid field, after she lost consciousness. "Adam. If that's the same ship as before…"

"Then the Federation may be trying to recover viable samples from the wreckage."

Samus leaned back in her seat and cursed under her breath. She'd dropped the station onto the planet to prevent them from being able to recover anything. In theory, all biological matter should have been vaporized.

"All they should find is dust."

"Should, yes."

Samus knew how Adam felt. She couldn't shake the queasy feeling in her stomach that the Federation might still be able to recover from this setback. They'd keep trying, and all the while she would be condemned and hunted for her role. Would anybody understand the galactic catastrophe they had averted?

Adam's words to her from right after the station's destruction came back to her: "One of them will understand. One of them must."

She sighed. "We can't take on the whole Federation. Not right now, anyway. We need to get out of their space and find someplace safe. Regroup. Figure out our next move."

"Agreed. I recommend somewhere with decent medical facilities."

"Medical?"

"Yes. As you suggested earlier. You should have someone examine you, to make sure the Metroid serum and all the X you absorbed aren't having any negative effects on your physiology. There wasn't time for sufficient observation before you left on your last mission."

Samus agreed and called up some navigation charts. She checked their heading—they were moving at a good pace away from Federation territory, and in the general direction of a cluster of free states that called themselves the Free Oncurudan Worlds.

The name jogged something in Samus's memory. She scrolled through the list of planets in the F.O.W., stopping when she found Saluraia.

She smiled. "I don't know about 'decent,'" she said as she plotted a course. "But at least I'll be able to drop in on an old friend."


End file.
